Guild Wars 2

I am having a really hard time finding a build that is enjoyable since they’ve changed the traits around. I solely play PvE.

Spirits are unplayable because they can’t move, they last 60 seconds and have a 20 second cd that starts after they go away.. and you can’t make them go away early, so you literally rarely have them, and they have mediocre buffs anyways. It was only good when they could follow you and lasted the entire 60 second duration. Especially since they have an annoyingly long channel to summon.

Traps are unplayable because they can’t have ground targeting. (for range might I add)
Shouts are just… no.
Signets are underwhelming.

And I hate how a lot of the traits give bonuses “under the health threshold” of 50%, and there doesn’t seem to be any really amazing traits. There are only 1 or 2 that I actually really love (like the one for longbow recharge and piercing and attack speed, amazing).

I don’t know if I’m alone in this feeling, but I am really disappointed in what they did to the Rangers. I had a lot of fun with them in the past, I’ve always mained them, but now they just seem horrible because there are literally no skills that are good. I’m basically forced into a signet spec if I want to be ranged, otherwise I have to play melee in order to have an actual spec?

I’m always going to play with a longbow, and my alt weapon is an axe/warhorn.
I am unwilling to switch weapons because I hate melee. Hence why I picked a RANGEr to begin with when I originally started playing.

Why on earth did they decide to get rid of trap ground targeting and spirits not moving? Those were really good talents… well, really good because they gave you an option… it should just have ground targeting base. And I thought I read somewhere that wells and traps were getting ground targeting base, but clearly not at the moment. Is that coming with the patch or am I crazy?

Anyways, any tips on a good build that has proven useful that is RANGED? I do NOT want to play melee.

The idea of being able to throw traps is kind of a wonky one. They’re more of a grande kit at that point. Traps are back they were originally and they’re actually pretty strong atm. You just have to pre plan your fight.

Spirits act now more closely to what they did in the original game, as more of an area control/ area denial. I don’t do much pve nowadays so can’t comment on how effective they are.

Since you prefer lb and axe I would say stick to marksman and bm tree for the traits that affect them

You are not alone. Even when traits were condensed, I haven’t felt as though it was a solid “less is more” for the mode, more or less due to some exclusions and removal of former traits.

Off-hand training, peak strength, master’s bond, and spirits unbound are the ones that come to mind that I had fun with using from time-to-time in open-world and even dungeons during casual fun runs.

Traps and Signets feel all right (to me) now. The arming time is noticeable but it does not hinder my love for using them. As for Spirits, it sounds crazy, but Spirits Unbound was a fun trait to take. I know there are people out there that hated the mobile petting zoo, but it was buff-on-the-go and I personally was fond of it. Was a shame to see it go.

~PvE has been buffed. Significantly.
~PvP is broken. A-net themselves confirmed this.
~Traps are fine. Even some of the top Ranger players are using traps for their kit. Not a 17 trap Ranger, but they still fit.
~Spirits are underwhelming. This I can agree on.

~Signets are Fine. Signet of Stone is used for almost every spec.
SoR is the best AoE condi clear in the game (that kills the pet on spot, though, but the team support is amazing – it’s also a stun breaker)
SoW is the best PvE ability and SoH is often used in WvW.

From my perspective, you are just a player who cannot play a certain playstyle anymore and feels sad about it.
And it doesn’t matter for you that we got like 4 absolutely amazing builds now. Because I don’t know… You can’t throw traps anymore.

I was aware that people are going to feel this way, but with all due respect – it’s nothing but a human syndrome that refuses to adapt.
Rangers in PvE still pull out higher numbers than a Guardian or Warrior. If icebows get nerfed we might as well get our way into meta.
For PvP… Who knows. No one does. Not even A-net themselves.
________________________________________________
As for the advice, Eura (Ranger from competitive scene) shared his build. You might try to go with that one.

In PvE, you can play this; http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAnXVjMqQ5K2uCerAVLGSEq+CG9nmXgO/z/AI2f9S8lXA-e

Set traps, Get your pet to taunt a bunch of enemies, Use path of scars to pull enemies into traps, rain fire on them with Longbow. Fun? I personally think so.

I agree OP. This patch was just another middle finger in a long line of middle fingers. after the buffs we got in the rework it seemed like Anet had finally got their kitten together with balance and then this rework comes along and undoes everything.

Combine it with the $50 (lol) “expansion” and my desire to play has been non-existant.

Kubrick.5740:

RANGEr

Another of these threads…

Elorna.5329:

Kubrick.5740:

RANGEr

Another of these threads…

Really starting to feel like we need to get the definition of ranger stickied on this forum for new players to read.

Besides that traps are in a pretty sweet spot now. Eura is using two traps (Spring and Spike) in his longbow build and I saw another fellow take a third (Frost) in a similar set up. I tried both and they are really effective. Traps are finally good enough that you can take one or two in a build without dedicating the entire build to them, which is ideally how a utility skill should work. Not to mention they are doing their job as a defensive utility amazingly by severely punishing anyone who tries to open with a melee burst, which is something longbow ranger really needed to keep them safe.

Heal as One and Rampage as One made shouts more viable too. You don’t need to take Guard for perma swiftness now, which opened the door to having a mix of shouts and survival skills, both traited, to create a pretty strong line up of defensive skills. Search and Rescue is still pretty bad, but the fact we can trigger it through a trait so easily now made it a valuable mechanic all the same. I might try out a Mercy oriented medic ranger build at some point and see how that goes, which is kind of funny because we use to make fun of such a concept.

Rangers are in a better place than we were before in terms of build diversity and what utilities we could take and remain competitive. We’re not as well off as say, mesmers or guardians, but that’s not to say that we became strictly weaker.

Tragic Positive.9356:

~PvE has been buffed. Significantly.
~PvP is broken. A-net themselves confirmed this.
~Traps are fine. Even some of the top Ranger players are using traps for their kit. Not a 17 trap Ranger, but they still fit.
~Spirits are underwhelming. This I can agree on.

~Signets are Fine. Signet of Stone is used for almost every spec.
SoR is the best AoE condi clear in the game (that kills the pet on spot, though, but the team support is amazing – it’s also a stun breaker)
SoW is the best PvE ability and SoH is often used in WvW.

---

From my perspective, you are just a player who cannot play a certain playstyle anymore and feels sad about it.
And it doesn’t matter for you that we got like 4 absolutely amazing builds now. Because I don’t know… You can’t throw traps anymore.

I was aware that people are going to feel this way, but with all due respect – it’s nothing but a human syndrome that refuses to adapt.
Rangers in PvE still pull out higher numbers than a Guardian or Warrior. If icebows get nerfed we might as well get our way into meta.
For PvP… Who knows. No one does. Not even A-net themselves.
________________________________________________
As for the advice, Eura (Ranger from competitive scene) shared his build. You might try to go with that one.

Honestly, I think you are reading too much into what I’m saying.

While I don’t particularly like change, I don’t mind it if it’s for the best.
These changes are not for the best.
Yes, okay, throwing traps is “wonky” but that’s how they made it, it’s been like that for a long time, and it’s fitting for a ranged class. I don’t know about you but I hate having to go melee to lay down traps just to back away… and then go back in to lay down more traps.. then back away again. I’d rather just stay at range and use longbow. It’s not like the range on the traps was massive… they could have nerfed it if it was a problem, but to take it away fully is ridiculous. Especially when Necro Wells GAIN ground targeting.

What are the 4 absolutely amazing builds? Because I’m having a hard time even finding 1 build that is “absolutely amazing” for a ranged ranger. If you are so all-knowing, spare your knowledge please!

I don’t feel like I should be forced to play melee. And only shouts and signets are viable ranged. And like I mentioned, signets seem very lackluster compared to other classes. The traps were my favorite before with ground targeting, but I don’t see how you can stand to play a ranged ranger without ground targeted traps. I’ve tried it and it’s really annoying constantly running in and out. And spirits are complete garbage. The movement is the only thing that saved that spec, in my opinion.

I used to like my trapper ranger but felt I did a lot more damage when I changed to zerk but after the patch I tried a sinister trapper build and think its great fun

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNEQNAV3flMqguVY7KwcFwvGDFCV/BD7VzTQpf6/un7BQGzMSsG-ThiAABJcEAgW3Q7PAAAOIAPb+TalgWr8ja1f44CAwz+DkCYRpRA-e

I was doing grenth watching 8k burn 6k poison and 4k bleeds tick over while I was critting everything with my axes getting stacks of might easily

both axe and sb are ranged

Ehecatl.9172:

I might try out a Mercy oriented medic ranger build at some point and see how that goes, which is kind of funny because we use to make fun of such a concept.

I think I might give something like this a try tomorrow – http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV8PjMqQLLWuCctYgRo4C4yDg/JG2U3H9R40LYVD-TpRFwAAeAAy2fIxBBAyFAQxRA4ZZAA

Ideally I’d go with A/D and S/T on settlers but the lack of health on that amulet really hurts lately.

Kubrick.5740:

Honestly, I think you are reading too much into what I’m saying.

While I don’t particularly like change, I don’t mind it if it’s for the best.
These changes are not for the best.
Yes, okay, throwing traps is “wonky” but that’s how they made it, it’s been like that for a long time, and it’s fitting for a ranged class.

What are the 4 absolutely amazing builds? Because I’m having a hard time even finding 1 build that is “absolutely amazing” for a ranged ranger. If you are so all-knowing, spare your knowledge please!

I don’t feel like I should be forced to play melee. And only shouts and signets are viable ranged. And like I mentioned, signets seem very lackluster compared to other classes. The traps were my favorite before with ground targeting, but I don’t see how you can stand to play a ranged ranger without ground targeted traps. I’ve tried it and it’s really annoying constantly running in and out. And spirits are complete garbage. The movement is the only thing that saved that spec, in my opinion.

Let me explain a few things. Please, be noted that my reply is not meant as an offense, not even as an attack, but as a pure will to teach new players who do not play for so long.

At this point – you have been mistaken by a long shot.
Guild Wars 2 has been a game where Melee > Range at every single game scenario, every single map, class and even build.
There is no environment that would promote Ranged fights except for kiting. Because while kiting – You can deal damage and your enemy can’t (some fractals are done through this method because of high HP pools – but it takes time).

Because of this – every single melee or semi-melee spec has a significant advantage over Ranged one. Unfortunately – new players like yourself jump to conclusion that Rangers are supposed to play Longbow because that is the weapon.
Which is not true. It’s a power weapon used for utility and higher ground safe-fire. Which, sadly, has very limited uses in sPvP.

Regardless of how much you like it or not – Ranged combat is just not the way to go in guild wars 2.
Of course – there is the possibility, but has it’s price. If you want to press your way for the Ranged combat – you have to be prepared to lack plenty of other mechanics that other classes have: such as Burst, Evades, Boon strip, ports and so on.

If you really want to stick to the ranged combat – you need to utilize the most out of your proposed game-style = kiting. And that’s one hell of a job in the new burst meta while playing against classes with high access to immunities, stealth, ports and burst.
But it is still possible. The build Eura is using is the build that goes around Longbow. And it uses Spike Trap that helps you shake enemies off a huge ton.

But you should get one thing into your head. They will get to you sooner or later. Regardless of how much of a sniper you want to be – your potential will only be as high as your weakest point – melee range.

Tragic Positive.9356:

Let me explain a few things.

Kubrick.5740:

I solely play PvE.

none of your post has any relevance to pve

I like how some responses bring in PVP and in the OP’s first line:

I solely play PvE.

Kubrick, you don’t like some of the changes, man, that’s fine. I don’t know what mode you play in PVE, whether it be open-world, dungeons, or both, but if it’s mostly open-world, then keep trying things out.

Hopefully, something will stick and you’ll start to get a feel for a build you like. As for ranged options, yeah, traits are kind of limited for your selection. At the very least, there’s some silver-lining that longbow had some extended range and arrow velocity thrown as a baseline.

If you also do dungeons, find some like-minded peeps that don’t mind a ranged ranger playstyle and have at it. I’m all up for melee and optimal stuff as a Ranger, and seeing how you prefer to think Ranger = Range, then keep playing it that way. Cheers.

leebe.2093:

Tragic Positive.9356:

Let me explain a few things.

Kubrick.5740:

I solely play PvE.

none of your post has any relevance to pve

Than you have absolutely no idea how this game works.

Only 1 paragraph touched PvP topic (5 lines?) mentioning other competing other classes.
Every other mentioning of other classes do touch PvE topic.
Mesmer ports help a lot of people in PvE in speed runs. Breaking protection on bosses is a huge thing as well. But my bad. There is no such thing as boon in PvE. <sigh>

But if your goal is to go right past me hand in hand with this game as such, I won’t mind.

“If a player came to forums for help – I expect him to search for results and effectiveness. If he intended to come here hoping for his dream come true – than he’s probably at a wrong place.”
There are thousands of people playing selfish useless builds at the moment. If that is what makes you (and others) enjoy the game – where’s the harm? (except making the game less enjoyable for everyone else).

A full Zerk melee party can clear full AC run in 40 minutes. Without dying once. A condition/zerk/ranged party with everyone playing what he wants usually completes in 1 hour with obvious wipes where 1 melee player is being killed over and over again. And I was able to see that people started to blame Zerks for being useless (since they die 1st if mobs live ling enough – which they do if people run condis).

I believe this discussion became irrelevant. I can bet that most of people who came searching for answers are not interested in correct ones and are only waiting for the ones they want to hear.

Dude, you’re blowing unnecessary smoke. All the OP did was share his opinion on some of the changes then asked this little bit after describing his play style:

Anyways, any tips on a good build that has proven useful that is RANGED? I do NOT want to play melee.

He mentioned PVE but never went into detail as to whether it was open-world, dungeon, or both.

Tragic Positive.9356:

Than you have absolutely no idea how this game works.

perhaps I should’ve started like this:

Tragic Positive.9356:

Let me explain a few things. Please, be noted that my reply is not meant as an offense, not even as an attack, but as a pure will to teach new players who do not play for so long.

pve is easy right? you don’t need the best build, play what you like, it’s still easy don’t let the need to be meta take away from the fun in diversity

Well longbow still has all those buffs that weren’t needed in the first place, so not really nerfed.

leebe.2093:

pve is easy right? you don’t need the best build, play what you like, it’s still easy don’t let the need to be meta take away from the fun in diversity

And this is absolutely correct.
But there is the thing that I said in this forum a bunch of times and I’m going to say again.

If the player wants to play what he likes – let him do so. Be it a Vita,Tough,Healing Ranger – but you can tell this build would suck. For everything except Commanding in WvW.
But if he came to forums – stating that everything is weak – I expect him to search for effectiveness. If he doesn’t want to play build that is effective – I suggest him to save his precious time and avoid forums searching for help because he wouldn’t take any.

But if he sticks to his favorite role-play build that weighs other people down – then he can’t expect that he’ll be called anything else then yet another bearbow.
If he’s fine with that – than everything is perfectly alright.
In case this is about open-world PvE – than no one really cares.
________________________________________________
If he’s fine with non-longbow setup – this is a ranged build that hits the roof of effectiveness in DPS (even though Axe is most effective in point blank range). Aim for full Sinister stats (I made it in PvP editor to save time).
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAV3fnMqAtrgdrAuCCctghEhqT3d9p5FozPgPAS2ZOjfKR2D-TJRGwAAuIAJeCAMLDUa/BA
EDIT: video for demonstration https://youtu.be/5wKjGbrzf9I?t=846 (video is from before patch update, since then the build has been buffed a lot)

It is quite funny seeing people talk about how PvE Ranger is better then before. Sure we lost some flat damage modifiers with the change to hunters tactics, we do not have to trait the spirit anymore to use it. The pet will do more damage and RaO is a shout now.

But you always have to look in comparison to other classes. And the 3 main classes in PvE, Thief, Elementalist and Warrior got buffed so much more.

The PS warrior is doing the DPS of a pure DPS warrior build. Ele got insane modifiers as did the thief.

I have over 3000 hours on Ranger and finally I am at a point where I can not justify myself taking my ranger into a dungeon anymore. I can sit in Fire with the Ele and spam 1 and 2 on my staff and do twice as much damage as the Ranger. And i can AoE Blind and use Icebow to produce results that are far beyond the scope of any Ranger build out there with a single click.

Chokolata.1870:

It is quite funny seeing people talk about how PvE Ranger is better then before. Sure we lost some flat damage modifiers with the change to hunters tactics, we do not have to trait the spirit anymore to use it. The pet will do more damage and RaO is a shout now.

But you always have to look in comparison to other classes. And the 3 main classes in PvE, Thief, Elementalist and Warrior got buffed so much more.

The PS warrior is doing the DPS of a pure DPS warrior build. Ele got insane modifiers as did the thief.

I have over 3000 hours on Ranger and finally I am at a point where I can not justify myself taking my ranger into a dungeon anymore. I can sit in Fire with the Ele and spam 1 and 2 on my staff and do twice as much damage as the Ranger. And i can AoE Blind and use Icebow to produce results that are far beyond the scope of any Ranger build out there with a single click.

But this in my opinion is a fact where Elementalist is overpowered. PS just came in the same way. But that doesn’t say anything about Rangers.
Everyone says that Engie can maintain 25 vuln stacks by himself… So why didn’t I see him in a dungeon or Fractal in like … Well, a really long time.

This is not about Rangers being weak. This is about Eles and Warriors being over the top for as long as I can remember.
I said it a hundred of times – it’s not Rangers who need buffs. It’s Eles and Warriors who need to be toned down.

From a perspective of balance – a supportive specialization (which ele and warrior are) shouldn’t be the ones to deal the highest damage. Period.

EDIT
P.S. if ideal parties does not have to include 2 eles and 2 warriors – much more diversity would become available. Rangers fitting the meta as well.
The group might as well consist of 1 ele, 1PS, 1 ranger, (Guard/Thief/Mesmer/Engie) – depending on what the group needs.
Once again – Rangers are fine. Eles and Warriors are the problem that everyone else feels weak – which means those need to be nerfed, not rangers buffed.

You do not understand, Ele, Thief and Warrior will not be nerfed for PvE. They even reverted the icebow barrage 25% damage nerf. And the reason the engi is not taken even though he can stack stealth, vulnerability and has 3rd best DPS in the game is because what he does on rotation the elementalist does on a singe click and has far more DPS and ICEBOW.

They should’ve just nerfed Icebow as it was announced. The buff to it was completely out of left field and unwaranted.

A ranger instead of the second ele would offer spotter, long water field and frost spirit, an engie would offer superior vulnerability stacking, a ton of blast finishers, long fire field and some blinds. Mesmers and necros would still lag behind unfortunately (other than the possibly unintended slow effect on bosses from Time Warp).

But regardless of what the other professions can do, a single elementalist utility skill ends up being so powerful that it trumps multiple benefits from another profession and pretty much makes at least two eles mandatory.

Chokolata.1870:

You do not understand, Ele, Thief and Warrior will not be nerfed for PvE. They even reverted the icebow barrage 25% damage nerf. And the reason the engi is not taken even though he can stack stealth, vulnerability and has 3rd best DPS in the game is because what he does on rotation the elementalist does on a singe click and has far more DPS and ICEBOW.

So what do you suggest? Asking A-net to buff 6 other classes just because they won’t nerf Warriors and Eles?
Is there any logic?

And thief having such a high damage is fine by me. He doesn’t really have any offensive party support. I see a problem that support classes can beat him in DPS by clicking 2 buttons.

Asking Anet to gut warrior, ele and thief damage modifiers and some key abilities. I dont mean nerfing by 10% but by 50%.

For example:
-Nerf 10% extra damage while in fire to 5%
-Tempest defense from 20% to 10% damage to stun fues
-20% while in water to 10%
-Warrior 10% when endurance not full to 5%
-20% after burst skill half duration buff
-Remove the stupid signet auto 100 precision proc, over budged trait for PvE atm
-Reduce No Quarter ferocity bonus from 250 to 100
-Nerf Thief exposed weakness from 10% bonus to 5% to foe with a condition
-Nerf thief ferocious strikes from 10% extra critical damage to 7%
-Reduce Ice bow stun from 5 seconds to 2.5
-Reduce Ice Bow 4 damage by 75%
-Reduce the Lightning storm vulnerability stacking from 25 to 12-13, i.e. fine tune the duration so that it never goes over those values
-Nerf GS mastery damage bonus from 10% to 5%. Might stacking and CD reduction is enough and with 10% extra damage its OTT. Ranger and guardian have a 5% damage buff

etc..

One can only hope, but it will never happen sadly.

^ most of those are overkill, altho no quarter and war signet trait could use a tuning down and frost bow particularly needs a nerf of probably that magnitude.

That is the whole point i am trying to make is that these 3 classes are so much above the rest that drastic nerfs like these would bring them in line

the thing i find funny with lead the wind is that if u run with superior runes of rage and remorseless U do even more dmg single target then with lead the wind and since the opening strike nerf it isnt as good I used 2 pop all and burst at the begining since I had an opening strike that could be combined with signet of the hunt for insane dmg now for me atleast without remorseless opening strike feels mehh

Nice punctuation.

Kubrick.5740:

I am having a really hard time finding a build that is enjoyable since they’ve changed the traits around. I solely play PvE.

Spirits are unplayable because they can’t move, they last 60 seconds and have a 20 second cd that starts after they go away.. and you can’t make them go away early, so you literally rarely have them, and they have mediocre buffs anyways. It was only good when they could follow you and lasted the entire 60 second duration. Especially since they have an annoyingly long channel to summon.

Traps are unplayable because they can’t have ground targeting. (for range might I add)
Shouts are just… no.
Signets are underwhelming.

And I hate how a lot of the traits give bonuses “under the health threshold” of 50%, and there doesn’t seem to be any really amazing traits. There are only 1 or 2 that I actually really love (like the one for longbow recharge and piercing and attack speed, amazing).

I don’t know if I’m alone in this feeling, but I am really disappointed in what they did to the Rangers. I had a lot of fun with them in the past, I’ve always mained them, but now they just seem horrible because there are literally no skills that are good. I’m basically forced into a signet spec if I want to be ranged, otherwise I have to play melee in order to have an actual spec?

I’m always going to play with a longbow, and my alt weapon is an axe/warhorn.
I am unwilling to switch weapons because I hate melee. Hence why I picked a RANGEr to begin with when I originally started playing.

Why on earth did they decide to get rid of trap ground targeting and spirits not moving? Those were really good talents… well, really good because they gave you an option… it should just have ground targeting base. And I thought I read somewhere that wells and traps were getting ground targeting base, but clearly not at the moment. Is that coming with the patch or am I crazy?

Anyways, any tips on a good build that has proven useful that is RANGED? I do NOT want to play melee.

Maybe you should play a different profession. If you limit yourself to only playing longbow you’re limiting yourself to a fraction of the build possibilities out there and you shouldn’t be surprised when you start feeling limited. Sitting at range and pew pew is fun and effective, but you ask why they change those traits…and it’s because the profession is about more than that.

Spirits are far more useful now than they were before. If the 20 sec cd in between consuming and dropping is that big of an issue for you in pvp maybe you should rethink how you’re playing. If you’re running a full spirit build just rotate drops a little that way you don’t go 20 seconds without a spirit up. For things like meta events spirits are incredibly useful. The proc was increased and the cd lowered. Moving with me was nice, but kind of stupid and I’m glad they were made back to the way they were in GW1 as AoE buffs. The buffs are definitely not mediocre in a 5 person group. The boons from Nature’s Vengeance are also nice. If you’re not seeing the value of spirits in gameplay you’re just not using them correctly. Lots of value in the game currently.

Traps are more powerful than they were before and that’s the sacrifice for no range. A trap build with lots of condition damage is extremely strong right now. Again, I’m sorry but if you’re not seeing the value of traps you’re just not using them correctly. The knockdown added to spike trap is amazing. Using traps with a ranged weapon that isn’t sb/axe kind of defeats the purpose of using traps anyways. Again, this is a change that reverts a skill back to the way it was in GW1 for the most part and I’m extremely happy about it. Build around toughnes/vit/condi damage and watch things melt.

Shout builds are extremely effective atm because of “We Heal As One” and “Strength of the Pack” being shouts. You can have just those two shouts on your bar and with Pack runes stack swiftness pretty effectivelpy. I duo in WvW with another ranger sometimes with both of us running Pack runes, “WhaO”/"SotP, and traiting Resounding Timbre we have perma swiftness and regen by timing our shouts. It makes for extremely effective roaming. I use a very similar build sPvP effectively and also for running around in PvE a lot. Sic Em is also a very underrated skill and so is Protect Me (especially considering it’s essentially a mimic of a heavily used war skill “endure pain”.). So shouts…yes, very yes.

If you’re unwilling to use Traps, Shouts, or Spirits you are limiting yourself to Signets and Survival skills and coming up with a build out of those and the traits shouldn’t be that difficult. You can pretty much trait Lead the Wind, use QZ w/ Stone Sig and Sig of the Wild and faceroll everything in PvE without leaving your longbow.

Ehecatl.9172:

Elorna.5329:

Kubrick.5740:

RANGEr

Another of these threads…

Really starting to feel like we need to get the definition of ranger stickied on this forum for new players to read.

No need as the definition is already there, as quoted by ANet:

“Unparalleled archers, rangers are capable of bringing down foes from a distance with their bows.”

- https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/ranger/

Aveneo.2068:

Ehecatl.9172:

Elorna.5329:

Kubrick.5740:

RANGEr

Another of these threads…

Really starting to feel like we need to get the definition of ranger stickied on this forum for new players to read.

No need as the definition is already there, as quoted by ANet:

“Unparalleled archers, rangers are capable of bringing down foes from a distance with their bows.”

- https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/ranger/

Are people suggesting this statement is false?

Aveneo.2068:

Ehecatl.9172:

Elorna.5329:

Kubrick.5740:

RANGEr

Another of these threads…

Really starting to feel like we need to get the definition of ranger stickied on this forum for new players to read.

No need as the definition is already there, as quoted by ANet:

“Unparalleled archers, rangers are capable of bringing down foes from a distance with their bows.”

- https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/ranger/

And I’m feeling like burying your dreams.
Only Longbow user apart from Ranger now – is warrior (guardian coming soon).
And Yes, Ranger does better with Longbow than a Warrior. Yes, he is still unparalleled.

Now get back to reality, read that every melee spec deals more damage than a Ranged one again, soak up the facts and move on.

For a game that champions “play as you want”, Anet sure is supporting the ‘stack or gtfo’ meta.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Aveneo.2068:

Ehecatl.9172:

Elorna.5329:

Kubrick.5740:

RANGEr

Another of these threads…

Really starting to feel like we need to get the definition of ranger stickied on this forum for new players to read.

No need as the definition is already there, as quoted by ANet:

“Unparalleled archers, rangers are capable of bringing down foes from a distance with their bows.”

- https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/ranger/

Are people suggesting this statement is false?

Well, the OP seemed to be getting attacked for wanting to play a Ranger as a ranged class with people taking potshots at him. So I figured I would shut them up as Anet already stated their definition of Rangers. Pets, traps, bows.

That doesn’t mean the Ranger is currently working as intended or anything though. Because the Ranger is back at the bottom of the barrel with this patch as our pets were kept at rock bottom and we lost about 15-20% dps due to mandatory traits that no longer exist.

Personally, my Ranger build is weaker than it was prepatch so I have a lot of the same feels the OP does. It does take more time to kill the same stuff than it did before playing exactly as I did before. Now, on the other hand, things die faster with my guard, warrior, ele, and thief using nearly the same builds. Given that the Thief d/d is as close as I can get to Ranger s/d, I’ve decided to main a Thief instead. I’ll wait for the Ranger to not suck again, but I’m not holding any hope. Done with that too. I loved playing a Ranger but done with it now.

And healing spring… that’s just a sack of suck right now.

Alice.5360:

For a game that champions “play as you want”, Anet sure is supporting the ‘stack or gtfo’ meta.

No one is forcing you to play meta. If you don’t want to play meta or efficiently don’t join groups that advertising for meta or efficient play. And the only stacking that is done now-a-days is when you are stacking on something to kill it. There’s no corner stacking anymore… at least most of the time. Oh, and they need to break Symoblic Avenger again.. That was awesome doing lvl 50 fractal in 20 minutes facerolling it.

It’s not about not wanting to play meta… it’s about literally about not having choice. When you make a bow hit like a noodle, no one is going to use it, not for pvp, not for pve, not for WVW. Anet seems to be trying to make the game melee-centric and part of that is by overly nerfing ranged specs and abilities. Even the range on offhands is nerfed. It truly is becoming a stack or get out game.

It’s really sad that people are clinging on to that signet LB + GS glass build instead of looking into other options. Rangers do not currently suck. We just are not on the high end of the unbalance meter like some other classes are at the moment.

Oh, and shouts definitely do not suck. But keep bringing Entangle like that does anything lol.

This is my ultra casual roaming PVE build that feels most similar to me to LB/GS pre-patch:

http://intothemists.com/calc/?build=VL;4wEFu-g2gDV-0;9-8b;1YZb;0238036147;9;1vhrTvhrTm-Fz0-gG;3HbH6IbI6JbJ62o-Gs1kW

Our signets are nice. They can cure conditions, make us invuln, and give us a rampage mechanic. Adding the Brutish Seals trait makes them even better by adding an extra 3 Might when activated.

If I use Mighty Roar on my stalker pet, pop all my signets, and swap pets to trigger Call of the Wild and Zephyr’s Speed, that’s 18 stacks of Might without much effort and you get 3 seconds of quickness on top of it. Most things don’t live long enough to get through that.

It’s an easy build to use, and puts out high consistent damage with some huge spikes. It’s also fairly survivable with LB #3, and the signet actives.

Gotejjeken.1267:

It’s really sad that people are clinging on to that signet LB + GS glass build instead of looking into other options. Rangers do not currently suck. We just are not on the high end of the unbalance meter like some other classes are at the moment.

Oh, and shouts definitely do not suck. But keep bringing Entangle like that does anything lol.

This is what I’m thinking. I seriously think that Rangers are not bad. We just aren’t OP like some classes are.

I played a match against premades in PvP and believe me, you hated the Ranger for everything. The ranger was paired with an Engie – and the Ranger was Fire/Spike trapper+LR with double sword/Torch/Dagger. Perma healing from HS, water blasts all the way, tons of burning and perma poison, huge DPS, hard to focus any of them…

Any point they felt like taking – they won. Even close points against 2+2 (who came later to join). Their only weakness was the 14K invis stunning shatter Mesmer with d/d to finish the job.

But it’s just as you say – he wasn’t using entangle. He was using SotP with River Drake for instant 8might and 12sec stability.
Of course – this kind of ranger only works in small-scale fights. But there he excels.

Currently my biggest concern isn’t even Rangers being too powerful. My concern is the eternally overpowered classes like Ele, Warrior… Those that excel in every game scenario including PvP,WvW and PvE.
Everyone asks for buffs to be overpowered like them, while I only want them to be as “weak” as we are.

Gotejjeken.1267:

It’s really sad that people are clinging on to that signet LB + GS glass build instead of looking into other options. Rangers do not currently suck. We just are not on the high end of the unbalance meter like some other classes are at the moment.

Oh, and shouts definitely do not suck. But keep bringing Entangle like that does anything lol.

We aren’t “clinging” to it. We just want to be able to use bows. We are one of two classes that can use them, and the only class that can use them /well/. I don’t care if I have to go condition or bunker to use a longbow…. I enjoyed having the option of being a valuable part of a team at range. As it is, though, LBs are ONLY good for power glass builds. The limited conditions you can apply with it are out done by other weapon sets. That means it IS exclusively a power weapon. As it stands, rangers do NOT have the build, stats, traits needed to be able to be an effective ranged power build.

They are forcing a class that had a good mix of melee and range to become melee only.

Alice.5360:

…As it is, though, LBs are ONLY good for power glass builds…

Celestial Hybrid LB is pretty nice actually, should try it out some time.

Kubrick.5740:

I am having a really hard time finding a build that is enjoyable since they’ve changed the traits around. I solely play PvE.

Spirits are unplayable because they can’t move, they last 60 seconds and have a 20 second cd that starts after they go away.. and you can’t make them go away early, so you literally rarely have them, and they have mediocre buffs anyways. It was only good when they could follow you and lasted the entire 60 second duration. Especially since they have an annoyingly long channel to summon.

Traps are unplayable because they can’t have ground targeting. (for range might I add)
Shouts are just… no.
Signets are underwhelming.

And I hate how a lot of the traits give bonuses “under the health threshold” of 50%, and there doesn’t seem to be any really amazing traits. There are only 1 or 2 that I actually really love (like the one for longbow recharge and piercing and attack speed, amazing).

I don’t know if I’m alone in this feeling, but I am really disappointed in what they did to the Rangers. I had a lot of fun with them in the past, I’ve always mained them, but now they just seem horrible because there are literally no skills that are good. I’m basically forced into a signet spec if I want to be ranged, otherwise I have to play melee in order to have an actual spec?

I’m always going to play with a longbow, and my alt weapon is an axe/warhorn.
I am unwilling to switch weapons because I hate melee. Hence why I picked a RANGEr to begin with when I originally started playing.

Why on earth did they decide to get rid of trap ground targeting and spirits not moving? Those were really good talents… well, really good because they gave you an option… it should just have ground targeting base. And I thought I read somewhere that wells and traps were getting ground targeting base, but clearly not at the moment. Is that coming with the patch or am I crazy?

Anyways, any tips on a good build that has proven useful that is RANGED? I do NOT want to play melee.

Totally agree.

My “hits like a truck” condi build is not even possible with this patch.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Alice.5360:

…As it is, though, LBs are ONLY good for power glass builds…

Celestial Hybrid LB is pretty nice actually, should try it out some time.

Saddly I have…. Unless I’m really messing up my trait (and since I’ve been going off other’s guids and common sense i don’t htink I am), I am just not able to balance between sustain and killing power. A 1 v 1 becomes a 2 v 1 with me running or dead and a team engagement leaves me feeling my greatest contribution is some slightly annoying dps that forces them to waste a dodgeroll or me hitting a well timed interrupt on an enemy’s heal. I don’t feel like I am able to really assist focus don the way I used to… and the constant need to be switching pets out for sustained buffs leaves positioning as a massive issue…. Like on Niflhel… if I am up top, pewpewing away, and have to switch from spider to wolf for the buff, my wolf then has to walk down and around to join the battle. :\ Previously I could just keep my pets alive and avoid needing to switch in instances like that but the buff-on-swap is not MANDATORY for us to be able to pump as much dmg out as we can in our kitten state.

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Alice.5360:

…As it is, though, LBs are ONLY good for power glass builds…

Celestial Hybrid LB is pretty nice actually, should try it out some time.

I had great success with decapping Celestial LB ranger. You know, 4sec CD Point Blank is something people hate. And they don’t expect it on melee range.

Good news is Rev sucks more than Ranger.

Aveneo.2068:

Heimskarl Ashfiend.9582:

Aveneo.2068:

Ehecatl.9172:

Elorna.5329:

Kubrick.5740:

RANGEr

Another of these threads…

Really starting to feel like we need to get the definition of ranger stickied on this forum for new players to read.

No need as the definition is already there, as quoted by ANet:

“Unparalleled archers, rangers are capable of bringing down foes from a distance with their bows.”

- https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/professions/ranger/

Are people suggesting this statement is false?

Well, the OP seemed to be getting attacked for wanting to play a Ranger as a ranged class with people taking potshots at him. So I figured I would shut them up as Anet already stated their definition of Rangers. Pets, traps, bows.

That doesn’t mean the Ranger is currently working as intended or anything though. Because the Ranger is back at the bottom of the barrel with this patch as our pets were kept at rock bottom and we lost about 15-20% dps due to mandatory traits that no longer exist.

sadly Ranger forum is like that rangers attacking their fellow rangers for them wanting to play the class they like like they want like anet stated I made a Ranger as my first character after looking over what the other classes has and I prefer a more range focused class that allows me to pick of high priority targets (high dmg dealers, low hp ppl before they can escape and so on) I have always prefered my ranger over all my other characters but when ppl give me kitten for playing ranger that just kittenes me of and I already know I will get kitten for this but if you ever really look into the traits in marksmanship and how they sunergice you will se that marksman isnt optimized for LB builds but for GS builds while U accualy lose a lot of dmg for going for Lead the Wind

ps since Revanant has peirce on a hammer baselined why cant LB have it aswell that would open up for a dmg increase for LB in Lead the Wind maybe those 5% we lost from Eagle eye Im pretty sure everyone that has ever used a Longbow will agree that it makes more sense

Redemer.2601:

sadly Ranger forum is like that rangers attacking their fellow rangers for them wanting to play the class they like like they want like anet stated I made a Ranger as my first character after looking over what the other classes has and I prefer a more range focused class that allows me to pick of high priority targets (high dmg dealers, low hp ppl before they can escape and so on) I have always prefered my ranger over all my other characters but when ppl give me kitten for playing ranger that just kittenes me of and I already know I will get kitten for this but if you ever really look into the traits in marksmanship and how they sunergice you will se that marksman isnt optimized for LB builds but for GS builds while U accualy lose a lot of dmg for going for Lead the Wind

ps since Revanant has peirce on a hammer baselined why cant LB have it aswell that would open up for a dmg increase for LB in Lead the Wind maybe those 5% we lost from Eagle eye Im pretty sure everyone that has ever used a Longbow will agree that it makes more sense

No one is saying you shouldn’t be able to play a ranged ranger. We’re just tired of people arguing that the ranger’s bows should by default be their best weapons in all game modes, which would mean melee ranger wouldn’t be a viable option anymore.

You can see how that might get on some people’s nerves after hearing that argument for a couple years or more.

Ehecatl.9172:

Redemer.2601:

sadly Ranger forum is like that rangers attacking their fellow rangers for them wanting to play the class they like like they want like anet stated I made a Ranger as my first character after looking over what the other classes has and I prefer a more range focused class that allows me to pick of high priority targets (high dmg dealers, low hp ppl before they can escape and so on) I have always prefered my ranger over all my other characters but when ppl give me kitten for playing ranger that just kittenes me of and I already know I will get kitten for this but if you ever really look into the traits in marksmanship and how they sunergice you will se that marksman isnt optimized for LB builds but for GS builds while U accualy lose a lot of dmg for going for Lead the Wind

ps since Revanant has peirce on a hammer baselined why cant LB have it aswell that would open up for a dmg increase for LB in Lead the Wind maybe those 5% we lost from Eagle eye Im pretty sure everyone that has ever used a Longbow will agree that it makes more sense

No one is saying you shouldn’t be able to play a ranged ranger. We’re just tired of people arguing that the ranger’s bows should by default be their best weapons in all game modes, which would mean melee ranger wouldn’t be a viable option anymore.

You can see how that might get on some people’s nerves after hearing that argument for a couple years or more.

Im not saying that anyone is wrong because when I think of a ranger its a character that is able to adapt to many different situation more like a jack of all trades but that excells at range combat which in my opinion feels kinda weak longbow and shortbow alike (shortbow might just be me not being so good at it) and ambushes

I suggest you use punctuation, then continue trying to get your points across.